June 2025 – Swine in Minnesota

Insights into the social interaction of pigs through social network analysis of AI-assisted automated data

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

This Science Page is a joint effort of researchers from around the globe! Saif Agha, Eric Psota, Simon P. Turner, Craig R. G. Lewis, Juan P Steibel, and Andrea Doeschl-Wilson share a summary of their paper looking at swine social structures.

Best of Leman 2024: Marjorie Schleper – Alternatives to rendering for nursery/grow-finish mortality management: A cost and feasibility analysis

This is our most popular series on the blog. Once a month, we are sharing with you a presentation given at the Allen D. Leman swine conference, on topics that the swine group found interesting, innovative or that lead to great discussions.

You can find all of the presentations selected from previous conferences on the blog here.

This presentation was given by Marjorie Schleper of Christensen Farms during the 2024 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, recorded September 22, 2024.

Updates on monitored PRRSV variants

This is our Friday rubric: every week a new Science Page from the Bob Morrison’s Swine Health Monitoring Project. The previous editions of the science page are available on our website.

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) continues to evolve, posing ongoing challenges for swine health management. This report, brought to you by the MSHMP team, provides an update on several monitored PRRSV variants of interest—1H.18, 1C.2, and 1C.5—along with two recently split variants, 1C.5.32 and 1C.5.36. These updates reflect current detection patterns as of early May 2025, geographic distribution, and clustering activity, helping stakeholders stay informed about trends in variant circulation and transmission dynamics.

UMN VDL welcomes new food animal pathologist

**Dr.Talita Resende joins University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to expand food animal diagnostic services**

The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine has welcomed Dr. Talita Resende as its newest food animal diagnostician and member of its faculty.

Profiling natural antibodies to Mycoplasma hyosynoviae in commercial pigs

This week, we are sharing a recent publication from the Mycolab at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, led by Dr. Maria Pieters. The project measured natural antibodies against Mycoplasma hyosynoviae in almost 3,400 blood samples, across three different flows.